FOSSIL-FUEL VEHICLES TO BE PHASED OUT IN SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE, once criticised by Elon Musk for not supporting electric vehicles, now plans to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles in the city-state by 2040. The government is planning to offer incentives to encourage the adoption of cleaner vehicles such as hybrids and electric cars, including rebates of up to S$20 000 (R214 712), and will invest to increase the number of electric-charging stations on the island to 28 000 by 2030 from about 1 600 now, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said this week in a speech presenting the country’s budget. “We are placing a significant bet on EVs, and leaning policy in that direction because it is the most promising technology,” Heng said. Until now, Singapore has been relatively slow to adopt electric vehicles, even as government officials acknowledged the country is uniquely suited to them because of shorter driving distances and strict state controls on car ownership. Singapore had about 1 330 electric vehicles out of a total fleet of 950 000 at the end of last year, according to the Land Transport Authority. Heng said in an interview yesterday, that the nation had previously evaluated shifting towards electric vehicles, but decided it was too early then. “As we monitor the evidence more carefully, we decided this is the direction we want to go,” Heng said. “Once we decide on it, we can take decisive action.” Singapore’s reticence had prompted Tesla’s Musk to express his frustration on Twitter. I Bloomberg